It happens to everyone and it happened to me last year…my laptop hard drive died. The Apple Store replaced it, of course, but along with it I lost all of my data. I do regularly back up my data but if I back up every month or so, I lost a month or two of …
Author: Mathew Needleman
Mathew Needleman, Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Innovator has been pioneering the use of instructional technology for over two decades. He has been a classroom teacher, literacy coach, conference keynoter, and he currently serves as an elementary school principal in Los Angeles, California. He is the founder of the independent education studio, Needleworks Pictures.
Misunderstanding Mr. Winkle
With approximately 30,000 combined views from a variety of video sharing sites, Mr. Winkle Wakes, has had the largest audience of any movie I’ve made. What’s cool about having a mini-viral video is that from time to time, the movie is rediscovered and its popularity spontaneously increases. Recently, thanks to Google Alerts, I found out that the …
Google Alerts
One of Google’s less popular and most useful tools is Google Alerts. Google Alerts allows you sign-up for e-mail notifications related to any search term. I use it, for example, to track any mentions of “Mathew Needleman” (my name) or “Matthew Needleman” (the popular mispelling of my name). It’s a narcissist’s dream. But aside from the …
Film School with Me Online Today
Sorry for the short notice but if you have 30 minutes to spare today I’ll be a guest on Ed Tech Talk to promote the upcoming free K12 Online Conference 2009. They will be showing a selection of some of the best previous K12 Conference presentations (but they’ve also included mine : ). After the …
Beginning of the Year Pre-Assessments
Here are a few tools to use when assessing students at the beginning of the year: The Basic Phonics Skills Test (BPST) This is helpful in identifying specific areas of phonics need (short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, etc.) San Diego Quick Assessment It’s also important to know students’ knowledge of sight words which is an …
Questions About Independent Work Time
Independent Work Time, a time when students are working on their own while the teacher works with small groups. It’s an official part of our reading curriculum but should really be a part of every teacher’s day in some form or other since it is one of the few times you can differentiate your teaching. …
Back to School Week: It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint
As you are getting ready to meet your new students, remember that getting to know them is more than just silly ice breakers and bingo games. I’m not disparaging those activities, I’ve even posted several of them. However, know that the process of getting to know your students doesn’t end when you’ve found out who’s …
Back to School Week: Resources
Here are some resources I’ve compiled to assist you in planning for your return to school: Need something to do? Want to get to know your students? Activities for the First Day of School Want to beef up on classroom management? Here’s everything you need from job charts to management systems: Classroom Management for Teachers …
For E-Mail Subscribers: Newsletters Resume
In preparation for going to back to school, e-mail delivery of Creating Lifelong Learners resumes today. I hope my readers have had a restful summer. As a reminder, this is the official blog of Open Court Resources.com (not the publisher of Open Court Reading but a teacher created resource) as well as the personal expression …
Final Cut Express Bootcamp
Article on differences between Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express. Complete keyboard shortcuts. Also see iMovie Bootcamp Links for recommended links and inspiration. Articles Better Color Correction in Final Cut Express Videos Using Chroma Key in FCX (Green Screen) The Shining Scary Mary Youtube Downloaders PWN Youtube (easiest) Insert the letters PWN before youtube …